Tango Neutralized: That other borderwall is looking good about now

Apparently The Canadian Immigration website just crashed. And here we were planning to unify Australia, Canada, and New Zealand and elect our own President. Obviously not quick enough.

Mystara at War: The Propaganda War

The forces of the Master had taken the Darokin city of Akesoli in a day and there had been no warning. Their forces overwhealming. The populace fleeing on the boats in Akesoli's port. Now the real war began. A war to convince the nations of the Known World to rise to the challenge.

"Did you hear? They fed the halflings of Akesoli to their humanoid troops. Skewered them on long spears and cooked them by the dozen over bonfires while the city burned."

Why would the folk of Karameikos or the Dwarves of Rockhome even care what is happening on the far edge of Darokin?

"Let the merchants of Darokin take care of it. They have money to hire mercenaries."

These are not one Nation under God...they are very different people separated by hundreds of miles and months of Travel. By the time the Characters reach Karameikos to warn Duke Stephan the Cities and Forts of Western Darokin will be over-run. The Allies of the Master will pour from the Broken Lands long before anyone realizes the Orcs are allied to the Master.

"Defend Darokin? All troops are headed north to halt the Humanoid Advance down the Streel Plain. Darokin will fall undefended. The Republic will be occupied in three months. Defend Darokin? We need to leave...now. I hear Alphatia is nice this time of year."

While Propaganda in a magic using world would involve crystal balls to provide real-time Access to proof of intelligence, most will not stand in a cue to look at halfings being roasted. It would take the big screen TV or cinema equivelent to encourage that kind of personal sacrifice.

It took six months by ship for word of the American Civil War to reach Australia. The propaganda in local newspapers expressed outrage at Lincon's actions.

A Mirror or Pool of Scrying large enough to 'educate and inform' large numbers is required. Otherwise it will take overwhelming numbers of Refugees to cause the distress and panic in the populace and government that recruiting an army requires and the prospect of half of the Republic of Darokin pouring through the mountain pass at Dukes Road Keep would be a shock to the system.

Counter information from the Allies of the Master will create panic simply by using real intelligence. Imagine a disguised Bargle or other showing Traladarans the sight of Thyatian Troops marching on Karameikos and suggesting they are comming to occupy Karameikos and raising Traladaran Troops to hit them from Dymrak Forest. Delay them long enough for the Duke to realize that the real enemy is east not west. The sight of Traladarans massacred by Thyatian Allies will add to the counter propaganda.

In the aftermath the surviving populace will hate whoever they were told to hate. The bigotry of future generations sewn.

Creature Catalogue: A better Dragon

Dragon
All dragons are Born from eggs and as they hatch and grow they evolve through varying colours until they reach adulthood becoming gold dragons. Unfortunatly they cycle through neutral and chaotic dragons first.

Younglings: HD 0-8

Hit Dice - Colour - Breath Weapon - talking - spells
As host     Shadow  none                        20%    read magic
1d8            white      cone of ice              30%    1 first
2d8            grey        cloud of ash            40%    1 first, 1 second
3d8            black      line of Acid             50%    2 first, 1 second
4d8            chrome cone of glass            60%    2 first, 1 second, 1 third
5d8            green     cloud of chlorine   70%     3 first, 1 second, 1 third
6d8            blue       lightning bolt          80%    3 first, 2 second, 1 third
7d8            red         cone of fire              90%   4 first, 2 second, 1 third
8d8            gold       gas cloud                 100%  4 first, 2 second, 1 third, 1 fourth


Level - experience - colour - alignment - claw / tail / wing / bite
0                 0xp     shadow  as host   parasite
1    100000xp      white      chaotic    1d4 / 1d6 / 1d8 / 1d10
2    300000xp       grey       neutral     2d4 / 2d6 / 2d8 / 2d10
3    400000xp       black     chaotic     3d4 / 3d6 / 3d8 / 3d10
4    700000xp       chrome   neutral   4d4 / 4d6 / 4d8 / 4d10
5    800000xp       green       chaotic   5d4 / 5d6 / 5d8 / 5d10
6   1000000xp     blue         neutral    6d4 / 6d6 / 6d8 / 6d10
7    1100000xp     red          chaotic    7d4 / 7d6 / 7d8 / 7d10
8    1500000xp    gold        lawful      8d4 / 8d6 / 8d8 / 8d10

Zero Hit Dice Shadow: Its hatchling form is little more than a dimensionally phased parasite that will attatch itself to a host. The host now casts a deformed shadow while the hatchling absorbs 50% of experience from the host as its earned. Any dragon shadow that can talk can read magic from any scroll or spellbook. This is bad for wizards and elves who dont want spells read straight from their spellbooks but great for other classes and races looking to indulge in spell casting.

Artefact crafting: A dragon with ten thousand xp to burn can enchant a 1pp Artefact (a dragon egg capable of producing a hatchling) with no powers and a penalty and handicap.

Board Games: Dead Eye Molly

Dead Eye Molly is a gambling game I created for my D&D campaign. Now your PCs or just you and your friends can indulge in dead eye molly. I suggest several dice and about fifty currency cards. This will descend into chaos when the currency is swapped out for christmas gifts to decide who gets everything and they turn out to be socks with pompoms.

Obscure Reads: The Voynich Manuscript

Thought I might look at the Voynich Manuscript. Thoughts by scholars on the plants were they were fakes but they look a lot like plants from Madagascar. I recommend google image search of madagascar plant life if you care. Most look like they are images of plants being regrown from rootstock and cuttings...so yeah. Someone visited Madagascar.

Space Fall: Launching ONeil cylinders from Earth

Thirty two billion cubic feet of hydrogen will lift a million tons to the edge of space. The problem is materials. A shell of 4142 carbon alloy steel is already just under thirty six million tons at a centimetre thick. Lets say we reduce that to titanium of tin-foil thickness inside a structural frame of titanium and add rocket motors and fuel of a few hundred thousand tons to push it to space and land on Mars. Thats a rocket up the middle twelve saturn fives high.
Material strength requirements are the problem. We may need to resort to electric fields to strengthen the hull. But you know why thats a problem. The Hindenberg built an electrostatic charge that grounded. Then it started burning. Thats not what you want around twelve saturn five rockets wrapped in thirty two billion cubic feet of hydrogen.

Startrek Beyond: a review

Just watched Star Trek: Beyond. Here is the only relevant message it carried:

See you at Startrek 4.